


Hold You Up

by TheNameIsBritney



Category: Glee
Genre: (except not really not at all lmao), Cheerio Kurt Hummel, Fluff and Humor, Kurt falls, M/M, New Kid Blaine, blaine is there to catch him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:28:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26778877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNameIsBritney/pseuds/TheNameIsBritney
Summary: Kurt Hummel was a good cheerleader. No, scratch that, Kurt Hummel was an excellent cheerleader. He was smart and strong and flexible, damn it. He definitely wasn't the type of cheerleader who got so distracted to the point of personal injury.Until Blaine Anderson came along.or Kurt is a head cheerio and falls off the pyramid when he catches a glimpse of the cute new student
Relationships: Blaine Anderson/Kurt Hummel
Comments: 16
Kudos: 131





	Hold You Up

Kurt Hummel was a good cheerleader. No, scratch that, Kurt Hummel was an _excellent_ cheerleader. He was smart and strong and _flexible, damn it._ He definitely wasn't the type of cheerleader who got so distracted to the point of personal injury.

Until Blaine Anderson came along.

* * *

The day had begun normally. Sue had called all of the Cheerios to practice at 6am despite the chill in the air and the rain beating down on them relentlessly like tiny, ice-cold needles. Nevertheless, they all kept their eyes steely and determined and their grins firmly in place. No one wanted to be singled out by Sue on one of her _grouchy_ days.

After practice, Kurt showered and put on a fresh uniform and headed to class where he pretended to listen to Ms. Marshall drone on and on about the cold war for 45 lifeless minutes. The day proceeded in much of the same monotony until the bell finally rang for lunch. He briskly made his way to the cafeteria, picking up a vegetable cup and sitting down next to Tina and Mercedes at their regular table. He nudged Mercedes gently, smiling at her and offering her a carrot stick, which she rejected with a wrinkle of her nose. 

"Did you hear about the new kid?" Tina asked, leaning towards Kurt and clutching his forearm. 

Kurt furrowed his eyes. "No...?" he said slowly, taking a piece of cucumber out of his stick and nibbling on the end, "a mid-year transfer? How _Jason Dean_ of him." 

"Apparently he has B-Lunch with Rachel," Mercedes chimed in, "she told us when we passed her in the hall just now. Apparently his name is Blaine and he came from Dalton Academy and was in the Warblers which Rachel was suspicious of at first, but eventually she managed to convince him to audition for Glee today after school."

"Rachel told you all that while passing you guys in the hallway?" Kurt muttered, huffing out a quiet laugh. He wasn't sure why they were getting so excited. The all-boys-school of it all intrigued Kurt just the tiniest bit... until he remembered he was still in the middle of Homophobia, Ohio.

"You're missing the point, Kurt," Tina said, though it sounded slightly more like a whine, "he's talented, nice, and _cute!"_

"I thought Rachel was dating Finn this week." 

"Not for Rachel, Kurt, for you!" Tina said, shaking his arm. "Rachel told us that they spent all of lunch together and she got major gay vibes from him."

Kurt scoffed. "Okay, not only do I _not_ trust Rachel's judgement at all," he started, stripping the strings off of a celery stick, "but people can't give off gay _vibes._ It's not like a guy can forget to put deodorant on one day and go around smelling like _a gay_." 

"Kurt--"

"Mercedes, I appreciate whatever it is you guys _think_ you're doing for me, but I really don't need you to do it," he said softly, giving her a quiet smile, "I'm fine."

Tina and Mercedes shared a look across the table. They didn't exchange words, but... they didn't really need to. "We just worry that you get lonely, Kurt," Mercedes said quietly, looping her arm through Kurt's and squeezing him gently. "We know you love us, but... we want you to feel loved too."

Kurt sighed quietly, feeling Tina cautiously slide an arm around his waist. He tried his best not to think about it. Tried his best to ignore the ache in his chest whenever he saw Mike kiss Tina's cheek at her locker or Mercedes and Sam holding hands as they walked into school every morning. Tried not to think about having countless family dinners with Rachel sitting inches away from Finn at the table, domineering the conversation in that overpowering yet somehow endearing way that she always did.

He _was_ lonely. But lonely was all he could be right now.

"Girls," he said quietly, resting his cheek against the top of Tina's head. "I promise, I'm okay. I don't need you guys to set me up with some new kid that I don't know who probably isn't even gay in the first place." He slowly untangled himself from both of their touches and leaned forward on the table, closing his vegetable cup firmly and turning to give Mercedes his full attention. "Now, tell me about your date with Sam tomorrow night."

Kurt dutifully listened as Mercedes hesitantly, but excitedly, told them about Sam's plans for their date, responding when appropriate and staying quiet when needed. But no matter how hard he tried to silence it, there was still that tiny voice in his mind that said: _"I wish I had that."_

* * *

If the rumours of the New Kid -- _Blaine's_ \-- talent and cuteness were true, Kurt still had yet to confirm the rumours for himself. He, Santana, Brittany, and Quinn had been forced to miss Glee for an emergency Cheerios rehearsal after school that day, so Kurt survived another few hours without the aforementioned New Kid in his life. 

Instead, he hadn't thought about him at all. There wasn't any space in his brain to think about the possibility of cute boys who could sing, because all Kurt was thinking of was _smile, flip, turn, jump_. He was sure that after practice he'd be barraged with a multitude of text messages from the girls all telling him about how phenomenal and _gorgeous_ Blaine was, but Kurt's phone was safely tucked away in his gym bag, in his locker like it always was. 

He didn't think about the girls or Blaine at all. Until he saw Rachel, Mercedes, Tina, and another mysterious fourth figure walk out onto the football field and climb up onto the bleachers, taking seats right in the front row.

This wasn't particularly unusual behaviour for the girls. Sometimes they'd watch him practice and they'd go over to Kurt's after to do face masks while Kurt soaked his aching feet and slathered his shoulders and biceps in IcyHot. What was unusual was the arrival of this fourth person. A _boy_. An impeccably dressed boy. 

Kurt tried to shake them all from his mind as he tried to get into position for the next stunt, a pyramid that involved him doing a [scorpion](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/0f/8b/5d/0f8b5dc904c66982dfe4553ded684d2f.jpg) on top of Quinn, Santana, and Brittany's outstretched hands at the top while _they_ stood on the hands of two groups of bases and spotters, all of whom had been mercilessly trained to _not. Drop. The flyers._

He'd nailed this stunt countless times before. It was the pièce de résistance of the entire routine, so doing it this time around should have been no different... 

But during the other times that Kurt had done this stunt, he hadn't had a new audience member tracking his every move, practically setting his skin on fire.

He let his body move to the rhythm of the music, retracing familiar bends and motions as he made his way to the top. He braced himself on Quinn and Santana's hands and began lifting his leg to get into position, but for some inexplicable reason, his brain kept telling him to look over at the bleachers. _Just look to the left. Two centimetres wouldn't hurt, right? What's the worst that could happen?_

So, he did. 

He lifted his foot over his head and held it there, the muscles in his abs and thighs straining as he kept every muscle in his body taut. The music was blaring in his ears, even from yards away. He could feel a single drop of sweat sliding down his temple as his eyes slowly crept two centimetres to the left. 

His eyes focused on the bow-tie first. It was gorgeous, possibly designer. Kurt couldn't see the pattern, but it looked expensive. Then, his eyes snuck further upward, past a pair of pink, soft-looking lips, a strong looking nose, until they finally reached their destination. Bright, honey-coloured eyes pierced into his own, a pair of dark pupils boring into him like never before. Suddenly, Kurt forgot what it felt like to be looked at. 

They held eye contact for seconds that felt like hours to Kurt. And then he felt a rush of wind whipping past his face. Oh. He was falling. He hit the ground with a _thump_. Well, he didn't really hit the ground. He hit Mason McCarthy (a freshman Cheerio who was sweet but a bit overbearing) first, landing on him with a soft thump before rolling onto the grass. The breath escaped his lungs all at once and Kurt gasped, clutching at his chest. He could barely feel the pain in his back and legs. 

"Ow," he muttered, sitting up and blinking multiple times, trying to wave away the stars that had somehow appeared in front of him. He turned to Mason and shifted. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly, rubbing his chest and taking a few slow, deep breaths. 

"Mhmm," Mason squeaked, eyes still tightly shut and arms akimbo. "I'm not dead, right?"

Kurt chuckled, though the fear and adrenaline hadn't yet made it's way out of his system. "No, not dead." He looked over at Coach Sue who was stomping over, megaphone in hand and a positively _incensed_ look on her face. "But I might be in a second."

Sue stopped walking when she was barely a meter away from Kurt and Mason who both hurriedly tried to stand up. "Hummel," she said, ice coating every single syllable, "you have not only disgusted me, you have disgusted generations and generations of pale, lithe, willowy Hummel men."

"Um, actually, most of the men in my family are rather stocky-" Kurt interrupted before Sue held up her hand. 

"Hit the showers," she said, "looking at your face makes me more disappointed than _Free Willy_ did when they let the damn whale go." 

Kurt cleared his throat and stood back up, shakily walking to the locker room as the spots in his vision refused to clear. He could vaguely hear Sue reaming out the rest of the squad (her voice carries _monumentally)_ as he re-entered the school. He showered and got dressed slowly. He was in no rush now and he just knew he'd be aching tomorrow. Part of him hoped that Mercedes, Tina, Rachel and... wouldn't wait up for him. 

When he left the locker room and walked to his car, he was relieved to see that they hadn't. He didn't doubt that he would be greeted to dozens of texts on his phone from them, but he was glad he didn't have to deal with them in person. The humiliation from his fall earlier had only just began to set in. 

He got into his car and sighed, leaning forward and resting his head on his steering wheel. His eyes fluttered shut as he focused on his breathing. From behind his closed eyelids, a pair of startling hazel eyes stared right back at him.

* * *

Coach Sue had dismissed him from practice for the rest of the week. She'd told him he needed to re-learn all of his motor functions since it was clear that he'd reverted back into that of a toddler, but Kurt suspected that she was worried about him and wanted to give him some time to heal up. 

On the plus side, not having to go to practice meant that Kurt could attend Glee more than he usually did which was an added bonus... for no particular reason. _And_ he didn't need to wear his uniform.

He walked into the choir room on Tuesday afternoon with a (metaphoric, his legs were still _very_ sore) skip in his step and took a seat in his usual back corner, pulling out his phone as he waited for Tina, Mercedes, and Rachel to arrive. He was just about to send a response to Rachel's message when he saw someone approach him in his peripheral vision. He looked up and desperately hoped that the breath that got caught in his chest hadn't been audible.

"Oh," Kurt said quietly. Blaine was so much more... _everything_ close up. "Hi."

Blaine smiled, and by God, could that smile melt even Medusa's heart. "Hi!" he said back, "um... we haven't met yet. I'm Blaine." He held out a hand.

"Kurt," he replied, taking Blaine's hand and shaking it gently. His hands were soft, though Kurt could feel the phantom of a callous on Blaine's finger brushing against the back of his hand. "I-I've heard a lot about you."

Blaine wrinkled his nose. _God_. "Only good things, I hope?"

"The best," Kurt retaliated quietly, a smile playing on the edges of his lips. "Do you wanna sit?" He asked, nodding towards the chair beside him. Blaine sat down, never tearing his eyes away from Kurt's. 

"Your friends have told me a lot about you," Blaine said. Kurt raised his eyebrows.

"Only good things, I hope?" he asked cheekily. Blaine blinked at him, his smile turning playful.

"Of course," he said. Then, Blaine paused, his eyes slowly travelling up and down Kurt's body slowly. Kurt could feel heat rising up his neck and finding residence on his cheeks. "Listen, I have to ask..." Blaine trailed off quietly, leaning in. 

Kurt's heart stuttered. "Yes?"

Blaine caught his lower lip in between his teeth before looking back up into Kurt's eyes, his gaze searing. "...Are you alright?"

_What?_

"What?"

"I-I just... I saw you fall yesterday when Rachel, Mercedes, and Tina took me to your practice," Blaine said earnestly, "I... we didn't see you after practice, so I-I just wanted to ask if you were... okay. It looked like it hurt, a lot."

Kurt was blushing, but now for an entirely different reason. "Y-yes, I'm fine," he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck, "just a little sore. That doesn't usually happen to me. _Ever_." He paused, eyes darting around the choir room. "I'm an _excellent_ cheerleader."

"Oh, I don't doubt that." Blaine's voice was quiet. Warm. Kurt looked back at Blaine, eyes wide. "I was really impressed. Dalton doesn't have cheerleaders, so I'd never really seen anything like that before." 

Kurt felt a prideful smile grow on his face and he sat back in his chair, suddenly feeling very pleased with himself. "We're national champs, of course we're impressive. We're the best in the entire state." Kurt looked over at Blaine and cleared his throat, "usually." He glanced at the clock. _Where was everyone?_ "I got distracted yesterday, but that rarely happens. Actually, it _never_ happens."

"What distracted you?" Blaine asked softly.

Before Kurt could answer, Rachel and Mercedes hurried into the classroom, practically stumbling over one another as they argued. Kurt let out a quiet sigh of... well, he wasn't sure if it was relief or disappointment. 

"The only reason why you think you deserve the solo over me is 'cause Mr. Schue _babies_ you," Mercedes said, taking a seat in front of Kurt as Rachel sat on Blaine's other side with a huff. 

"No, I deserve the solo because of my monumental talent _and_ my years of dance, vocal, and charisma training!" Rachel practically yelled back, leaning forward in her seat. Blaine furrowed his eyebrows.

"What's charisma training?" he asked. Kurt simply shook his head and sighed. Then, Rachel and Mercedes stopped, turning to face the two of them and seemingly forgetting whatever it was they were fighting about. 

"Oh, I see you've met Blaine, Kurt!" Rachel said, her voice rising by an octave. Kurt thought he heard a dog bark somewhere in the distance. "Isn't he gor--"

"--what were you guys talking about before we interrupted?" Mercedes asked, effectively cutting Rachel off. Kurt smiled at her thankfully.

"We were just introducing ourselves," he said breezily, fiddling with the latch on his messenger bag. "Blaine told me you guys came to see me yesterday at practice." 

Then, like clockwork, Tina and Mike came blustering in. Well, Tina blustered. Mike simply walked in calmly and sat down at their usual spots, placing his backpack on the chair beside him to save it while Tina rushed over to Kurt's side. "Kurt!" she squeaked, "are you okay? We didn't see you yesterday after your fall!"

Kurt sighed, though her concern made his heart warm. "I'm _fine_ , Tina, thank you," he said, patting her forearm gently. "Nothing to get too worked up about."

His placidity seemed to soothe Tina, as she nodded and took her seat, leaning against Mike's shoulder as the rest of the New Directions and Mr. Schue began filing in one by one.

Kurt watched dutifully as Mr. Schue began writing on the board, all the blood slowly leaving his body as he saw him write a 'd', then a 'u', an 'e', a 't', then finally... an 's'. _Duets._ As Mr. Schue began his spiel, Kurt was unfortunately reminded of the last duets competition they'd done. He remembered the humiliation of the whole Sam debacle and just how alone he'd felt. His performance of _Le Jazz Hot_ had been perfect in every way, but it had still been incredibly isolating. 

"So, unlike last year, we actually have an even number of students in the club thanks to Blaine, our newcomer! So, no one will have to sing alone," Mr. Schue said, his eyes guiltily darting over to Kurt and then away again. "Would you prefer to make your own pairs or--"

" _Make our own pairs,"_ everyone droned in unison. Mr. Schue, slightly taken aback, nodded and clapped his hands together.

"Okay, then. Discuss amongst yourselves and let me know," he said, before wandering off into his office. 

Kurt sighed and shifted uncomfortably as the choir room descended into quiet chatter. Then, he felt a finger gently tap his arm. He looked up. 

Blaine. 

"Do you wanna pair up for this assignment, Kurt?" he asked, smiling in a way that made Kurt feel like he'd never be cold again. 

"Oh!" Kurt suddenly remembered what Mercedes had told him at lunch just yesterday. _Nice, talented, and cute, hm? You're three for three, Ms. Jones._ "Yes! I-I'd love to duet with you." The innuendo didn't hit until the words left Kurt's mouth and entered Blaine's ear. Kurt blushed, but thankfully, Blaine made no indication that he'd noticed. 

"Great," Blaine said, pulling out his phone and unlocking it before handing it to Kurt. "Give me your number."

 _A cute boy is asking for my number?_ Kurt thought as his fingers moved across Blaine's screen, _sophomore-year Kurt is plotzing._

Blaine took his phone back and smiled down at the contact before sending him a message. A short ' _hi! :)'_. 

By the time Glee ended, Kurt had a new contact, a new friend, and a whole _host_ of new feelings.

* * *

Deciding on a song to do had been relatively easy, despite Blaine leaning more towards pop and Kurt towards Broadway. They'd found a happy middle eventually, choosing to do an stripped-down version of _SOS_ from _Mamma Mia._ Spending time with Blaine was so different from spending time with his girls. It was comfortable and _familiar_ somehow, but... it was charged with an electricity that Kurt was sure he'd never felt around Mercedes, Tina, and Rachel. 

There were moments were Kurt thought _maybe_ Blaine was flirting with him. Times when Blaine's hand lingered slightly whenever Kurt had to hand him a piece of sheet music, or times where Kurt would catch Blaine staring for just a second too long, but he never let himself even _dream_ that Blaine felt anything other than friendship for Kurt.

Their performance goes off without a hitch. Their harmonies were so flawless that they put Pierce Brosnan and Meryl Streep's to shame. They still didn't win because ultimately, Mr. Schue was incredibly biased and wouldn't know talent if it died in front of him. Kurt tried to push down his frustration as Mr. Schue handed the winning _Breadstix_ coupon to Rachel and Finn. He didn't even _like_ _Breadstix_ that much, but it was the principal of the thing. 

"Kurt!" 

Kurt stopped at the doorway of the choir room and turned around, seeing Blaine rushing towards him. Despite his disappointment, he managed a smile. "Hi, Blaine." 

"I... sorry we didn't win, Kurt," Blaine said quietly, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Although, I'm _still_ not entirely certain about the authenticity of the Italian food at... Breadstix." 

Kurt laughed, shaking his head. "It's... the dollar-store version of Olive Garden, Blaine, we aren't missing out on much," Kurt said dryly, though his smile would _not. Go. Away._ "I think we sounded phenomenal. Mr. Schue is just..." he trailed off, shrugging. "There will be other competitions for us to unfairly lose."

Blaine chuckled and nodded slowly. Then, he bit his lip and looked around the emptying choir room before turning back to Kurt and taking the smallest of steps forward. "Be that as it may," he started quietly, "I-I was actually a little disappointed that we lost."

Kurt raised his eyebrows. "Y-you were?"

"Yeah." Blaine sighed softly, smiling bashfully. "B-because I was going to use the coupon as an excuse to... maybe ask you on a date."

 _Oh._ "Oh!" _Say something more intelligent, Kurt!_ "Th-that's nice!"

Blaine deflated. "Are you not... I-I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have assumed, I just thought--"

"--n-no, I am!" Kurt said, panicked, placing his hands on Blaine's arm. "I-I'm both very gay and very interested in going on a date with you."

The grin that Blaine gave him in return was _blinding_. "Oh! Good. That's good," he said, the apples of his cheeks delightfully pink and round. "Is today too forward?" 

Kurt chuckled quietly, looking down for a moment before his eyes came back up to look at Blaine. "Not too forward at all."

They walked out of the choir room together, not touching, but close enough for the fabric of Blaine's cardigan to lightly brush against Kurt's arm. It was _invigorating._

"By the way," he said quietly, looking over at Blaine as they entered the carpark. "Can I admit something slightly embarrassing to you?"

Blaine smirked, though his eyebrows were furrowed confusedly. "Yes, of course. I'd never judge you."

Kurt sighed, his breath visibly curling in front of him. "Well, uh... remember when you saw me fell at practice last week? I told you I was distracted." Blaine nodded but said nothing, so Kurt kept going. "I was distracted by... by you." 

Blaine's (delightfully triangular) eyebrows raised and his jaw dropped just the slightest bit. "I... you fell because of _me?"_ he asked, sounding scandalized. Kurt buried his face in his hands and groaned, nodding. 

"You were... i-it was my fault, I shouldn't have been looking in the first place, but I just..." Kurt peeked through his fingers at Blaine who was softening. "I couldn't help myself."

He felt his hands being pulled away from his face and a pair of hands gently gripping his forearms, tugging him forward. Blaine's bright hazel eyes were mere inches away from his own. 

"Well, next time..." Blaine said quietly, his warm breath dancing on Kurt's lips, "... I'll catch you." Before Kurt could reply, he was being tugged forward ever-so delicately until the tip of his nose was brushing against Blaine's. "Kurt, can I--"

" _Yes_ ," Kurt breathed, tugging his arms free from Blaine's grip and wrapping them around his shoulders, pulling their faces together until their lips made final, _blissful_ contact. It wasn't fiery or passionate or seductive. Just the sweet press of lips against one another, cold cheeks against cold cheeks and hands barely grazing necks and waists. 

It was perfect. 

As they stood there in the middle of the parking lot, Kurt could tell that he'd fallen again. But this time, he would take his time getting up.

**Author's Note:**

> WOOOOO written for @daltondirection on Twitter!!! She tweeted a delightful little plot idea that I really really wanted to write so I banged this out really quickly for her!!! I HOPE U ENJOY IT!!! 
> 
> anyway it's 4am i need to stop writing at the dead of night jfdklsjfls goodnight everyone! (also.......i didn't proofread oops)
> 
> comments and kudos are wildly appreciated!!! 
> 
> \- Brit xx


End file.
